Stage Door News
Stage Door News
“Part of our impetus for creating the piece, Little Illiad, was our realization that performance of this, and other very old, Greek tragedies were being utilized by the US army as a way of helping veterans to talk about their war experiences, and very successfully, too,.” says co-creator and performer Frank Cox-O’Connell.
The play is about two childhood friends, who have not spoken in years, reconnecting over a Skype conversation. One is a Canadian solider on his way to Afghanistan. The other is a writer who wants them to make a performance together. The subject is a little known fragment fro the epic cycle of the Trojan War.
“We wanted to reframe it within the context of civilian life--in part, as a way of looking at the civilian or non-military people in these old stories; and to look at the history of the thing we do, tell stories, which is so connected with the edifice of war. The interface of contemporary military life and civilian life is the context for the play, and the mystery of this interface continues to be in the news a lot, witness Chris Kyle in the news.”
The audience is drawn in--as the characters are--by this very old story, a story, which at its heart is about the possibility of coming together. The situation of war is similar across all this time. But this isn't a cynical story about how nothing changes. It's a story about how stories themselves are tools for overcoming alienation.
“ I am originally from Ottawa, and my own experiences--the now-common one of finding out from Facebook that your old friends are still around and doing things that you never would have imagined--are the background of the story. Performing in Ottawa will certainly have some emotional resonance for me,” says Cox-O’Connell.
The play is short, just 30 minutes and the audience is very small. They listen on headphones and watch a performance that's half pre-recorded, filmed and projected, and which depicts a conversation over Skype.
After its appearance at undercurrents, Little Iliad travels to Japan, Kingston, Ontario and then to Ireland.
“A profound and poignant synthesis of art and war.”
Irish Theatre Magazine
“Stimulating…cleverly written and delightfully played and the technical realization is superb.” The National Post
Photo: Frank Cox-O’Connell. ©2012 Trevor Schwellnus.
2013-02-09
Ottawa: Inspiration for “Little Illiad” at “undercurrents” from US Army’s use of Greek tragedy for war vets